EU Elections 2019

Did you know you’re represented at an EU level?

MEPs have been directly elected by citizens of member states of the EU since 1979

MEPs work on issues like the refugee crisis, women’s rights and the environment

Did you know the parliament has 3 main roles?

Legislative (Passing EU laws, together with the Council of the EU, based on European Commission proposals)

Supervisory (Democratic scrutiny of all EU institutions)

Budgetary (Establishing the EU budget, together with the Council)

Did you know that there’s an election in 2019?

The next Elections to the European Parliament are expected to be held on the 23-26 May 2019.

A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament currently represent some 500 million people from 28 member states

Did you know that voting at EU eu level is actually easy?

In the Republic of Ireland MEPs are elected via Single Transferable Vote which is conducted by ranked voting in multi-seat constituencies

Each voter has a single vote and can allocate this vote to their most preferred candidate

This voting system is used in an attempt to limit “wasted” votes and allows voters to vote for individual candidates, rather than parties The Republic of Ireland has three constituencies which are Dublin (3 MEPs), South (4 MEPs), and Midlands–North-West (4 MEPs)

Did you know registering to vote is easy too?

If not, download a copy of the RFA2 form here and get it stamped by your local Garda!

DITSU debating at Congress 2018 as part of the project to get students informed about the EU

About

The overall project Europe’s Future seeks to build on learning gathered from The Wheel’s previous programmes around engagement with Irish citizens and the EU.

As the only democratically elected EU institution, the European Parliament is the vehicle of public decision making at an EU level.

It’s really essential to communicate its values and work to young people as young citizens of Ireland. Its also important to challenge its work.

USI is a member of the European Students’ Union, and we are one of the biggest and influential members meaning as a student movement, our work can ripples across Europe but we need to be informed and engaged.

There can be a massive sense of disconnection between Irish people and the values of the EU, so we are joining with The Wheel and SpunOut.ie to bring you this project called Me and EU with the goal to “Get Your Vote On” and making students active citizens as an EU citizen.